Why technology matters for advancing women's financial inclusion

The gap between women and men in access to formal financial services is great. In developing economies, women are 20% less likely than men to have a bank account and 17% less likely to have borrowed from a formal institution in the past year. This disparity, particularly within the population at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid, has knock-on effects: women's inability to access finance also impedes their tapping into market opportunities, thus widening the gender gap. To close the gender gap in financial inclusion -- and to expand women's overall level of access -- policymakers and financial services providers need to understand what women value when it comes to financial products and services. The use of digital financial services has the potential to address women's preferences in new and exciting ways, as well as to reduce the cost and time of service delivery.